Klarinet Archive - Posting 000526.txt from 1995/06

From: Thomas Labadorf <Labadorf@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: "Practice Makes Perfect?"
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 1995 23:33:08 -0400

If your daughter can play a piece perfectly at the first reading, then she is
not challenged enough. Has she ever played the Nielson Clarinet Concerto, or
the Bartok Contrasts, or Corigliano (sic?) Concerto or Ned Rorem Winter
Pages, or Peter Maxwell Davies Hymnos, etc., etc.? My guess is she can't
play these piece perfectly, and she would have to spend a lot of time
practicing them just like the rest of us mortals. Buy one of these pieces
for her. If she can play them without practicing, then she's really got
something!

Then there is the other issue of muscle tone. The fingers have to be limber
and for even flowing scales, practice is a must. But even if she can play
even scales without the practice, she will definately need to work on tone
developement. Even with the perfect mouthpiece (is there such a thing), she
has to keep her embouchure in shape to produce a good tone. A clarinetists
very small facial muscle are called upon to perform an awesome task - Not
only for strength, but also control and endurance. This takes training,
hence, practice.

But there is the issue that Tom Asher brought up. What does she want to do
with the clarinet in later life. Is she serious enough about it to make it
her livelyhood, or does she just want to have fun playing music? Only she
can really answer that. But if you think she might want pursue music as a
career, she'd better get into that practice room! Competition is too stiff
for a casual attitude. If she just wants to enjoy music as an avocation,
she's doing the right thing - just play pieces well enough to enjoy them.

-------
>From Arlene Jones:

Hope you can settle a recurring argument between my daughter and myself about
the merits of daily practicing. Meghan is almost fourteen, has been playing
and taking lessons for clarinet and bass clarinet for five years. She's a
VERY good musician for her age, but even though her teachers say daily
practice is important, she feels "if you can play a piece perfectly you don't
need to keep practicing", nor do you need to practice scales, etc. every day.

As an old piano player, I say practicing every day helps the fingers
"remember" and the discipline of setting time aside every day for practice is
important too.

So please let me know your thoughts on this topic. Sorry if you've covered
it "ad nauseum" in the past, but she's agreed to abide by the opinion of the
majority of those who respond.

Thanks in advance,

Meghan's Mom